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Pitt Rivers Museum

1928.53.15

Dagger with obsidian blade and tapering handle painted red with carved geometric decoration highlighted with white and black. [SM 26/07/2007]


1928.53.15

Digital asset copyright: Pitt Rivers Museum, University of Oxford

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Collection type
Object
Description
Dagger with obsidian blade and tapering handle painted red with carved geometric decoration highlighted with white and black. [SM 26/07/2007]
Long description
Dagger with obsidian blade and tapering handle painted red with carved geometric decoration highlighted with white and black. The decoration is in a band around the socket of the blade. [SM 26/07/2007]
Geographical reference
Bismarck Archipelago Admiralty Islands
Person
Field collector Unknown Collector
PRM source James Thomas Hooper
Date / Period
Date made: Before 1928
Date collected
By 1928
Acquisition information
Purchased: 1928
Materials and processes
Material Obsidian Stone, Material Plant Nut, Material Sago Palm Fibre Plant, Material Pigment, Process Flaked, Process Carved, Process Painted, Process Decorated
Dimensions
Length: max 301 mm
Object numbers
Accession number: 1928.53.15
Research and responses

Ref. Robin Torrence. 2003. 'Ethnoarchaeology, museum collections and prehistoric exchange: obsidian-tipped artifacts from the Admiralty Islands.' World Archaeology 24.3: 467-481. On p. 472 Torrence describes the manufacture of these daggers, the handles being made of parinarium nut putty over sago fibre, painted or incised while still damp. [LM 30/07/2007]

Search terms: Weapon, Tool, Dagger, Knife